There are a lot of old apple trees in the woods and fields. Often they are near old granite foundations and fence posts like this one. The apples don’t tend to be all that good, compared with store bought, but they’re free – the wildlife and livestock both appreciate them.
Outdoors: 41°F/31°F Partially Sunny
Farm House: 59°F/50°F no fire
Tiny Cottage: 54°F/45°F plumbing reading
Walter Jeffries Tinker, Tailor… A bit eclectic & a tad eccentric, polymath, quantum mechanic & Farmer. Also lucky at cards.
Many of the apples here on the island date back to the 1800’s and were cultivated through the 1940 before allowed to go wild.
Often we find with some of these trees, all they need is a good, harsh pruning one year–about now–and then some maintenance every now and again and they yield good flavored, free apples. Time is your only investment.
Alternately when you find a great variety off in the woods which has flavor, size and appearance–you’d be surprised what copses hold hidden treasures of a bygone era–you can take cuttings and graft them on to some modern stock. Here on the island a great many ancient, lost to history, varieties have been preserved that way.
Unfortunately with new people coming in even these preserved treasures are no longer valued. We watched in horror recently as a 75 year old, perfect apple orchard was torn up to make way for a monstrosity of an over-budget palace. We were somewhat heartened to see some of the Hispanic workers return on their day off to sort through the broken trees and wrestle some of the best ones on a truck to take away for their own.
My grandma’s property in NW Washington State has a hillside orchard with trees easily 80 years or so… They were left wild but when they got the property in 1977 and saved what they could. They have an amazing Gravenstein tree that makes the most incredible apple sauce. I have never found a Gravenstein to plant…
Micahel Pollen’s older book “The Botany of Desire” describes the apple (and Jonny Appleseed) in all it’s glory. I just finished reading the section on the apple and learned about it’s history in this country. It’s a great read so far.
http://www.amazon.com/Botany-Desire-Plants-Eye-View-World/dp/0375760393/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/103-4045710-2218203?ie=UTF8&s;=books&qid;=1174143383&sr;=8-1